Detective Tsukauchi shook his head as he entered trough the door into the hospital. The hospital lobby was a dreary expanse that seemed to suck the vibrancy out of the air. The faded, off-white walls showed signs of wear, and the dim, flickering lights overhead cast a pale glow on the scuffed linoleum floor. The air was heavy with the antiseptic smell of cleaning supplies, a constant reminder of the sterility that permeated the space.
A reception desk sat at the entrance, manned by disinterested staff who mechanically went through the motions of directing visitors. The chairs scattered throughout the lobby were mismatched and uncomfortable, their worn upholstery providing little respite for those forced to wait. The low murmur of hushed conversations was occasionally punctuated by the monotonous ringing of phones and the distant drone of medical equipment.
Tsukauchi approached the hospital reception. His request to see the morgue hung in the air, casting a momentary hush over the otherwise routine activities of the lobby.
The receptionist, well-versed in handling such inquiries, maintained a composed demeanor. She delicately inquired about the purpose of his visit, gently navigating the sensitive nature of the request. The detective explained his need with a hushed tone and showed his badge, he was aware of the weight that the morgue held.
After a brief exchange, the receptionist guided him through the labyrinthine corridors, each step echoing in the quiet corridors. As they approached the morgue, the atmosphere shifted. The temperature seemed to drop a few degrees, adding an extra layer to the moment.
Upon reaching the morgue entrance, the receptionist gestured toward the heavy door. Tsukauchi, now standing at the threshold, took a breath, visibly preparing himself for what lay beyond. The door creaked open, revealing a stark, clinical interior bathed in cold, fluorescent light. Stainless steel stretchers lined the room, each shrouded in a sterile sheet.
''Do you know where Yuki Seiya is located?'' Tsukauchi looked towards the receptionist.
''There are name tags on the sheets, if they have been recently brought here, they should still be under one of those stretchers, if not I'll call a doctor who can show you where the body you are looking for is. I'll close the door so it remains cold.'' The receptionist answered.
Tsukauchi nodded his thanks to her, and slowly started walking down the room looking at each of the sheets. His eyes, sharp and observant, scanned each covered form with precision. He moved through the morgue methodically, looking at the name tags with a swift efficiency.
As each body was revealed, Tsukauchi's expression remained impassive, betraying little emotion. Finally, as the Tsukauchi reached the end of his examination, a subtle change in his demeanor indicated a breakthrough. He lingered over one particular stretcher, his gaze fixed on the name tag 'Yuki Seiya'. He lifted the sheet to reveal the face of the deceased. He was met with a frightening sight. The mans face was covered in cuts and slits but the most prominent aspect was his left eye or where it should have been. Instead of an eye there was a gaping whole.
Tsukauchi pulled the sheets further back to find the missing arm. He had to get a full report of the damages that had been done to the man. He covered the dead man in the sheets once again and took hurried steps towards the door, he was getting closer he could feel it.
With a quiet word of acknowledgment to the receptionist, the detective exited the morgue, leaving behind the stillness of the room. On the way out he had also asked if he could get a copy of the autopsy report on the man. She had nodded and told him to wait in the lobby for a few minutes.
When he was delivered the autopsy he left the hospital and drove towards the police station.
- Scene Change -
Tsukauchi sat in his office in deep thought. The autopsy report laid open before him besides his notes on the other attacks. There was something different about this attack. The manner of the attack and the damages the deceased had suffered was completely unlike any of the other. The first and most glaring difference was that there had actually been a death. Up until now all the other victims had only been maimed in various ways. Secondly the brutality of the attack couldn't be seen on the others.
A knock on his door gave him a slight shock in his heavily focused state. When he acknowledged the knock a coworker came in and laid out the crimes that the dead man had committed. He had quickly discovered that all the damages the people had suffered, were related to earlier crimes. Therefor, when he got back he had asked for a copy of all crimes related to Yuki Seiya. A small stack was now laying before him, most of them were petty crimes but they had quickly escalated to serious offenses. The last crime the man had done and that had landed in him jail, was an attack in open daylight where he had killed one man and injured several people.
Tsukauchi had heard of the attack, a father and son had been the primary victims with the father ending up dying. He had been sentenced to jail for 70 years, but obviously knew some powerful people, as he had been released early for good before behaviour. Tsukauchi obviously knew that there were major flaws and corruption within the crime system, but still he hadn't thought it was enough to get someone like that free so early.
That could properly explain the missing tongue. Yuki Seiya had talked his way out of jail, and the missing arm was almost certainly because of the arm that he had cut off from the child. There had been scratches all over his face, which had been examined as talons from multiple birds which helped the case that the man had some control over birds and more specifically ravens. The only thing he was really wondering about was the missing eye. By the scratches and cuts on the face it was probable it had been the ravens that took out his eye and not the man himself.
He sat an pondered quite some time, before getting a puzzled expression on his face. He sat straight up and turned on his computer. He was looking for the files on Yuki Seiya, not looking for the man but the child he had attacked. It was a bit of a long shot, but he had to be certain. It was just matching up a bit too good. The child had lost an arm, the man had lost and arm and an eye, the attacker seemingly had a quirk that affected his arm and eye, without it being registered anywhere.
''Damn it'' Tsukauchi slightly murmured. The file didn't mention any name of the father or son, it was thirteen years ago and hadn't been properly followed to code with the lack of name and details he knew from passing. He had hoped that the online file had been slightly more detailed than their physical copy but it didn't seem so. He had to make do with a trip another trip to the hospital, they had to know who the child was.
He stood up from his chair and pulled the blinds up again. He had pulled them down when he had first entered his office, he just had the odd feeling that sometimes he was being watched, and if indeed the man could control ravens he couldn't be too careless. As he walked out of his office, he couldn't help but let out a sigh, he had a long day ahead of him.
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Hello readers, long time no see. As I mentioned in the first chapter this was my first time writing any form of fanfic, and recently I have been struggling with getting any form of motivation to try and write something. So I decided to just take a break and not think of it. Then here a few days ago I decided to try again. I wrote something but I wasn't happy with it so I decided to rewrite it. This last chapter has been writing without any form of motivation behind it other than to just finish it.
I'm not sure how much more I'm going to be writing on this story, I might have bitten off more than I can chew, trying to write something completely different from what the original was about just in that world and with some of the characters. This story just came from a place that I thought most fanfic more or less followed the same recipe and it was getting a bit boring reading them. Unfortunately and I'm disgraced to say so, that if I ever write something new again it might be like them, just to get a better feeling of how to write, with the support of it looking like the original.
Well I have chatted enough, if you read this thank you for your support and nice comments, I mostly really enjoyed this. So all I left to say is have a wonderful day or night :D
- POC